Category : home safety

Tag Archives: home safety

Protect Your Home Today

So you’re on the fence about purchasing a new home generator. Our electrical experts are here to help. Here are five ways that you can benefit from getting a new generator installed for your home today:

1. Keep Your Pipes from Freezing

Winters can be brutal. In the case of a winter storm power outage, your pipes can be at risk for freezing if they’re located in unheated areas of your home. Frozen and burst pipes can cause flooding, and repairing the damage can cost thousands of dollars. If you’re able to keep your thermostat set to a warmer temperature during an icy winter, you minimize the risk of flooding caused by frozen or burst pipes.

If you are a snowbird, you may not be home to keep an eye on your pipes during the winter. With a home generator installed by the experts at Oliver, you’ll have peace of mind while you’re away. It’s recommended to keep your thermostat at a minimum of 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius if you are expecting a bad winter storm.

2. Bad Weather & Local Blackout

We are no strangers to bad weather. With winter storms hitting the Northeast hard, one of our biggest concerns is losing our power. With a standby generator installed for your home, you will have peace of mind that if there is a local blackout, you won’t skip a beat.

During a bad storm, the possibility is high that your power may be out for 24 hours or more. What’s worse, a local blackout may occur without any warning. Bad weather is dangerous enough. You need peace of mind with your power so you can focus on other important preparations.

3. You Need to Keep Your Food Safe

The food being stored in your refrigerator is there for a reason: to stay fresh. Perishable items can spoil very quickly and you need to rely on your refrigerator in the case of a sudden power outage. It can only take a few hours for your food to spoil, and if you are not careful, it may even happen without you noticing. You may need to throw out hundreds of dollars’ worth of groceries all at once if your refrigerator loses power.

Your family’s health comes first, and with a standby generator you are ensuring that the food you are storing stays fresh and healthy. In the long run, you can save thousands of dollars just by being prepared.

4. Safety Inside Your Home

In the case of a sudden blackout, you may lose the use of the lights inside your home. The sudden darkness increases the potential injury of your family members. Trying to navigate your home without a single light becomes dangerous when you’re not able to see any obstacles in your way. If you live in a multi-level home, you may run the risk of falling down or tripping on your stairs.

If you are able to continue using your lights, this will minimize the risk of falling, tripping, or running into sharp corners. This may be especially useful for any homes with small children or animals.

5. Increasing Home Value

If you intend to sell your home in the future you may be thinking, “why invest in a generator if I’m just going to move someday?” We have already covered reasons why a standby generator will benefit your home, but this list also applies to your potential home buyer. It may even be a good idea to share our blog with them if they’re not aware of these benefits already.

An experienced realtor knows the value of a home generator and should be excited to share it with anyone interested in purchasing the house. Someone in the market for a quality home would be glad to pay the asking price if they feel that the safety of their family is being considered.

A Bonus Benefit

At Oliver Heating and Cooling, we are experts at installing and maintaining the most effective backup power generator to fulfill your needs. Peace of mind is an important part of owning your own generator, and with the proper maintenance, you can be sure that your home is in good hands. Give us a call today at 1-877-757-1141 or request an appointment so you can be sure you will never be left in the dark.

When you trip a circuit breaker or your heating system fails, you can tell. Plumbing, however, isn’t as easy to read. Because your sewage system is underground, it’s not always obvious when there’s a problem. Here, our plumbing experts share five signs to look for that may indicate a sewage leak:

At Oliver, we want you and your family to stay safe. This means scheduling a regular electrical inspection with our experts and doing all you can to prevent home fires. Electrical fires are one of the most common causes of home fires and can lead to injuries and damages.

Have you always wanted more control over your home? At Oliver, we offer Lutron Caséta Wireless, a state-of-the-art home technology installation that can make your everyday life easier in a variety of ways. Here’s why our home electrical service experts recommend Lutron Caséta:

At Oliver, we know it can be a little intimidating when it’s time to choose a plumbing company, so we asked our plumbing experts what they’d recommend doing before deciding. Here are the questions they would ask:

As a duct cleaning company, we understand how important it is for your home to be clean and your air quality to be healthy. In addition to changing your HVAC filters on a regular basis, we recommend installing a dehumidifier in the areas of your home that contain too much moisture and humidity. If these areas are constantly damp, it can lead to damages like:

Electricity is a wonderful invention, but many of us forget that there are hazards that come with using it. Take some advice from our electrical wiring service experts and follow these electrical safety tips:

If you’ve been thinking about a backup generator for your home, our home electrical service experts can say that the idea is a great investment – especially during the winter. While the upfront costs of a generator may seem high, keep in mind that there are many benefits to installing one for you and your family:

Summer is over and autumn is quickly approaching, but is your home ready for the cooler temperatures? At our Oliver, we’ve put together nine ways to get your home ready for the fall (including calling our experts!):

Check for Drafts

Check your windows and doors for drafts so that your home doesn’t take on cold air when you don’t want it to. You can check them by lighting a candle and holding it near the area. If it flickers, there’s a draft. You’ll want to replace the weather stripping and/or caulking to get a nice, strong seal before the cold sets in.

Prep Your Washer & Dryer

All of those loads of summer laundry mean your washing machine and dryer have gotten a lot of use. Be sure to check your washing machine hose – one that’s too worn can burst and spill gallons of water very quickly. Also make sure that lint hasn’t built up in your dryer – too much lint can catch fire from the dryer’s heat.

Replace Your HVAC Filter

Summer comes with a lot of dirt, dust, pollen, grass, and other airborne contaminants. Start fall with a fresh, clean HVAC filter and you’ll be breathing easy as the temperatures get cooler.

Seal Your Walkway/Patio

If you have a paver walkway or a paver patio, take some time to seal it before the ice, snow, and cold temperatures hit. You’ll protect it all winter long and will love the way it looks come springtime.

Schedule a Furnace Check-Up

Make an appointment with one of our heating service experts to do a thorough check of your heater. We’ll make sure it’s working properly and ready to use once the temperature drops so you don’t experience any unwanted and inconvenient problems.

Fertilize Your Lawn

Grass roots will continue to grow until the ground temperature gets down to 40 degrees, so feed your grass a fresh helping of fertilizer to keep it growing strong through the fall and ready for winter.

Install Outdoor Lights

As it gets cooler, the days get shorter and there are fewer hours of sunlight, so why not install a few outdoor lights on your garage or ones that lead to your front door? You’ll light the way not only for yourself, but for your guests, too.

Test Your Detectors

Put fresh batteries in your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector and test them to make sure that they are working properly. This is a good thing to do every few months.

Insulate Your Pipes

When colder temperatures hit, your plumbing pipes could freeze and burst, causing big plumbing problems. Our plumbing experts can make sure your pipes are prepared for the fall and winter – just give us a call.

It’s time to get ready for the last vacation of the summer – that’s right, Labor Day is this weekend and whether you’re hosting a Labor Day party for family or friends or hitting the road for a road trip, there are several things you can do to stay safe:

Grilling Tips

Keep children and pets away from any type of open flame.

Position the grill so that it’s in a well-ventilated area and away from trees, bushes, the house, and anything else that can catch fire.